Painted pub sign depicts men with tools and drinks in a field with hay stacks, horses, and a church silhouette in the distance.

Hopbine and Barley Ear pub sign © Museum of Cambridge

11 – 12 Fair Street, The Hopbine and Barley Ear, The Hopbine

History of the Hopbine and Barley Ear

The Hopbine and Barley Ear signed displayed at the Museum of Cambridge is by Richard Hopkins Leach, 1794 – 1851. It shows three agricultural workers sharing a barrel of beer; on the reverse is a hop garden.

However, it is believed that the man on the horse is Richard Cobbett, the radical MP who is thought to have instigated the ‘Swing Riots’ in 1830. In these agricultural workers rioted against low wages and mechanisation.

Government action was harsh; 1976 prisoners were tried and 505 transported, mostly to Australia.

A printed document containing several paragraphs of text titled as a commentary on a sign for The Hopbine and Barley Ear.

Commentary on Leach’s The Hopbine and Barley Ear ©Museum of Cambridge

A street scene with a cyclist, pedestrians, and vehicles, including a van, passing by traditional brick buildings in 1967.

The Hopbine, Fair Street, 1967

Row of brick terraced houses and a corner building with a shopfront and a pub sign lining a quiet street on a bright day.

11 – 14 Fair Street, Feb 1971 (MoC28B/71)

A row of brick terraced houses and The Hopbine pub on a street corner, with chimneys, sash windows, and small front hedges.

7 – 10 Fair Street, Feb 1971 (MoC 28a/71)

A row of brick houses and The Hopbine pub on Fair Street, featuring a street sign for Fitzroy Lane on the corner brick wall.

7 – 10 Fair Street, Sep 1974 with Hopbine pub (MoC 37/75)

2026 Cambridge Community Kitchen

A two-storey building with red-painted walls, mural artwork, and signage for a community kitchen on a street corner.

Cambridge Community Kitchen, Fair Street (SJM 2026)

CCK is a collaboration between The Lockon, independent volunteers, and local businesses and organisations that aims to provide hot, hearty, vegan meals for anyone who needs one, while strengthening our community and building new systems for mutual care.

Projects

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